A century-long debate over where the Buddha lived in his youth.

Both India and Nepal claim that their countries were where the Buddha lived before he left the royal palace to pursue asceticism.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bodh Gaya, the site of Buddha's enlightenment, in 2014. Photo: AFP

Standing beside a trench nearly two meters deep, an archaeologist from the Nepalese government gazed intently down into a series of circular pits. He said that beneath his feet lay a 2,500-year-old city where Buddha lived until he was 29 years old.

The archaeologist said he was thinking about the future, when thousands of pilgrims would come to Nepal to visit the site in the town of Tilaurakot. "We are trying to entice them to spend money here," he said.

About 27 kilometers away, across the border, India invites tourists to visit a site they also claim is where the Buddha lived in his youth.

Since the British Raj period (the period of British colonial rule in South Asia 1858-1947), this archaeological controversy has remained unresolved for over a century, and has not caused much concern.

But changes are coming to the delta region that stretches across Nepal and India. Many international parties are investing in infrastructure to serve future pilgrims visiting the area.

"It is surprising that today, in the 21st century, 2,500 years after the birth of the Buddha, there are still many unclear points," Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli said last month at a government-sponsored Buddhist conference in Kathmandu.

Of the 385 delegates to the conference, more than 300 were from China and 9 were from India. When Mr. Oli complained about "outsiders trying to undermine Nepal's status as the home of Buddha," it was quite clear who he was targeting.

"There are people, perhaps a few people, who are deliberately creating a troublesome situation," he said.

According to the NYTimes, Buddhist legend tells that Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha, grew up in his father's opulent palace in the city of Kapilavastu. However, the exact location of ancient Kapilavastu remains undetermined. Some suggest it was the village of Piprahwa in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India, while others believe it was the village of Tilaurakot in the Kapilavastu district of Nepal.

During his time in the palace, his father prevented the prince from experiencing hardship. However, at the age of 29 (some believe it was 19), Prince Siddhartha encountered the elderly, the sick, and the dead. This experience profoundly affected him, leading him to leave the palace and pursue asceticism. He later attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.Bodh Gaya, in India.

Location of Piprahwa and Tilaurakot. Photo: lumkap

Up until the British Raj period, there were few serious attempts to pinpoint the correct location ofAncient KapilavastuResearchers studying India from Europe had little evidence at hand: the accounts of Chinese monks who journeyed along the Buddha's path in the 5th and 7th centuries AD.

Up until the British withdrawal from South Asia, archaeological work at two different sites claimed to have found relics. When the modern border between Nepal and India was drawn, both sides claimed their country was where the Buddha grew up.

In India, tour companies market Piprahwa as "the place where the Buddha lived in his youth, grappling with profound and perplexing questions about human existence." This spring, the Indian Ministry of Culture opened a museum there to display evidence, primarily in the form of inscriptions on ancient seals. They claim this is proof that Piprahwa was indeed the place where the Buddha spent his childhood.

Meanwhile, across the border, in Tilaurakot, a Nepalese and British archaeological team supported by UNESCO has its own hypothesis: the Indian-organized expedition in the late 1960s stopped digging too soon.

The leader of the Indian expedition, Debala Mitra, discovered traces of a brick city, but she determined it was not ancient Kapilavastu, as it was built hundreds of years after the time of Buddha. Last year, a UNESCO-backed research team cut through the brick structure Mitra found and discovered a second structure, with walls made of clay.

Then they dug further. They searched for cylindrical depressions in the ground—evidence that beneath the clay structure there had once been a decaying wooden fence, leaving a layer of crust on the surface.

Nearly two meters below the surface, they found traces of hardened ground inside these holes dating back to the 6th century BC, according to laboratory analysis. This means they date back to the time of Buddha.

The discovery was made by a Nepalese archaeological team supported by UNESCO. Photo: NYTimes

In late April, the area experienced a severe heatwave, forcing the exploration to temporarily halt and the moat to be filled in. They erected banners announcing that "on this path, Prince Siddhartha walked toward the East Gate before renouncing royal life." A wooden walkway was also constructed to prevent pilgrims from getting muddy during the ceremony.

According to the NYTimes reporter, the site is currently very deserted, with few people attending the ceremony. The forest is empty except for a young boy playing a game of throwing stones. But Ram Bahadur Kunwar, from the Nepal Archaeological Survey, speaks of great hope for the future.

"It's still a mystery, because we haven't opened it yet," he said. "But when we do, I think this structure will tell us the history of ancient Kapilavastu."

Others share this joy. The Asian Development Bank will finance a $54 million upgrade to the international airport near the Nepalese town of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. When the upgrade is completed in 2030, the airport will serve 760,000 passengers a year. Lumbini is about 25 km from Tilaurakot.

They anticipate a surge in tourists from China – a country experiencing a resurgence of Buddhism. Nepalese tour guides are learning Chinese, and new hotels are hiring Chinese chefs. One afternoon, a group of Chinese female tourists from Chengdu came to meditate for five minutes under a tree near the Buddha's birthplace.

Sunanda Sakyaputra was a monk who came to Tilaurakot to meditate. When asked about the village on the Indian side, he snorted. "Wrong, very wrong," he said. "Everything. India thinks everything belongs to them. Why?"

According to VNE